This vegan pad Thai is my absolute Favourite! Made with fresh simple ingredients you’ll love this healthy vegan dish that takes less than 30 minutes to make!
Is Pad Thai vegan?
This recipe for Pad Thai is a take of a traditional pad Thai recipe from Thailand. Traditionally, pad Thai is not vegan since it’s made using fish sauce, and often times in Thailand you can even find dried shrimp used in Pad Thai. It is also traditionally made with an egg scrambled into it, so we leave that out in this recipe.
Pad Thai is luckily very easy to make vegan. The main replacement is to use soy sauce in place of fish sauce. All the other sauce ingredients stay the same and you will end up with an equally delicious Pad Thai!
What is Pad Thai?
Thai is a traditional, stir-fried noodle dish served in Thailand. It’s commonly served as street-food, or in restaurants all throughout Thailand. One of my favourite experiences was learning how to cook an authentic Pad Thai in Thailand.
I’ve taken a couple of cooking classes in Thailand and was able to learn tthe ins and outs of making an amazing Pad Thai.
The key to a great pad Thai recipe is to have the proper balance of sweet, salty, sour and spicy flavours. We achieve this balance through using soy sauce, coconut sugar and lime juice.
How to make vegan pad thai
This recipe starts by cooking up the tofu in a pan with some oil. Once the tofu is cooked, it gets pushed off to the side (so it’s off the heat) and the noodles go in the pan.
This is a cooking technique I learned in cooking class in Thailand. After the noodles, seasoning and sauce go in, everything gets tossed up together and served with crushed peanuts and lime.
Pad Thai is BEST served immediately after cooking, so it’s not a dish you want to leave sitting around for 10-15 minutes on the stove. Eat it right away.
This recipe is for my favorite vegan Pad Thai. Some of the ingredients have been altered from the more “traditional” Pad Thai, (to make it vegan-friendly) but the flavors are still authentic and delicious!
Some more Thai recipes to try
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PinDescription
A simple Pad Thai recipe that is easy to make and takes less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pack rice noodles (approx 7 oz)
- 1/2 block of tofu, cut into small cubes
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup-1/2 cup water
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 large handful garlic chives (can sub regular chives)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (gf if needed)
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar (can sub agave, maple syrup)
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 1 green onion, chopped
- crushed peanuts, lime & cilantro for serving
Instructions
- Boil the rice noodles in a pot of water until tender, but not too soft (they should still be slightly undercooked. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick pan on medium high heat then add the tofu and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Push the tofu to the side of the pan, turn the heat to medium and add the garlic noodles, garlic chives, soy sauce, coconut sugar and lime juice to the pan.
- Slowly add some water to the pan, 1-2 tbsp at a time to prevent the noodles from sticking and allowing to cook fully through.
- Turn the heat to low and add the bean sprouts and green onion and mix together.
- Top with crushed peanuts, cilantro and a lime wedge to serve.
Notes
Pad Thai tastes best if you eat it immediately after cooking!
If you want the most authentic ingredients, head to your local Asian grocery store to find items like garlic chives
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/3 recipe
- Calories: 265
- Sugar: 6g
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 8g
Keywords: Vegan pad thai, tofu pad thai
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Tori
June 24, 2019 at 2:24 amHi! Could you go without the tofu for this dish, or is it needed for the flavor?
Jess
June 24, 2019 at 11:38 amHi Tori, you can definitely leave it out it won’t alter the taste and is equally delicious without tofu!
Roxanne
May 7, 2019 at 5:36 amFor years I’ve been looking for a Pad Thai that tasted like restaurant pad Thai to me. This was delicious. My family wanted more sauce on the noodles, so I doubled the sauce ingredients the second time I made the recipe. I also added 1 T. Tamarind Concentrate to the original recipe. It gave just the last little sweetness and tang I was looking for. Tamarind concentrates seem to come in different strengths. The one I used was pretty mild. Use less if you use a more concentrated one.
★★★★★
Jess
May 7, 2019 at 5:16 pmHi Roxanne, thank you for the review! I actually learned how to make Pad Thai in Thailand, so I wanted to share a recipe that tasted authentic to there! (But using vegan friendly ingredients.) That sounds delicious with the addition of Tamarind!
Gail Dunbar
April 13, 2019 at 9:37 amHi, what type of tofu did you use?
Jess
April 14, 2019 at 12:19 pmHi Gail, you can use any type of tofu i personally use firm!
Ben
March 27, 2019 at 11:41 amI travelled to Thailand two times and this Pad Thai seriously reminds me of the ones I ate there! Really good!!
★★★★★
Jess
March 27, 2019 at 4:05 pmThanks for the review Ben! That’s where I learned to make Pad Thai 😉
Phi
March 22, 2019 at 9:38 pmloved it! would not change a thing! thanks soo much!
★★★★★
Jess
March 24, 2019 at 2:38 amThank you so much! Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Ana
January 23, 2018 at 4:16 amForgot to rate the recipe! 😀
★★★★★
Ana
January 23, 2018 at 4:03 amPad Thai is also my all-time favorite dish in the world, I love Pad Thai ?. I also saw the recipe the Life Changing Peanut Butter Noodles and these look so good too, can’t wait to make them. Looking forward to following along and trying all these yummy recipes! Eating pad thai at a local restaurant in Thailand sounds so yum, gosh ?.
Jess
January 23, 2018 at 1:12 pmHi Ana, that’s awesome! Isn’t bad just the best? I love how fast it is to make. Hope you get to experience eating some in Thailand as well:)
Dee | Green Smoothie Gourmet
November 8, 2017 at 2:48 amSo delicious Jess! Such a comforting spicing creation. Amazing that your travels influence your recipes, so creative of you! Thanks for sharing! Dee xx
★★★★★
Jess
November 8, 2017 at 3:42 pmThanks Dee! One of my favorite parts about traveling is all the amazing inspiration you can draw on for new dishes:)
Nisha / @rainbowplantlife
November 7, 2017 at 4:31 pmYou are making me so hungry with this Pad Thai! Love your vegan version of this dish. I could eat rice noodles all day long 🙂 Oh, and that plate is so beautiful!
Jess
November 8, 2017 at 3:42 pmThanks Nisha! and same here! I could eat this every day!
Cassie Autumn Tran
November 6, 2017 at 11:58 pmPad Thai is such a comforting and spicy dish, which I ADORE! This recipe does look beautiful. I am so jealous you went to Thailand! But I am most certain you had the time of your life there!
Jess
November 7, 2017 at 4:31 pmHi Cassie! Thank you so much! I totally agree comforting and spicy is the best! I hope you can make your way to Thailand one day:)